April 7: The Future of Cities in Avondale and Logan Square Tour

Discover recent changes and consider the future of our cities.

3 hours – some walking

Saturday, April 7th 6:00pm-9:00pm

Logan Square Bus Tour Overview

This bus and walking tour invites Chicagoans to consider how recent changes in city living–particularly in Logan Square and Avondale–can provide insight into Chicago’s future as a “creative” and “experiential” city. Your guide, Executive Director Amanda Scotese, will connect how distinct trends, such as luxury apartments, Divvy bikes, tourism, and online shopping, have changed the features of the neighborhood landscapes.

From our 37-passenger coach, we will view massive new structures, green pocket parks, trendy restaurants, and historic architecture. The group also disembarks the bus twice: once for a brief walk to get up-close with street art and once for a brewhouse tour at the new Metropolitan Brewing on the Chicago River.

We will examine the term “hipster,” and how the presence of hipsters affects everything from storefront retail to home values. Guests get to see and consider recent developments, like the mega-popular 606 trail, as well as planned developments for historic buildings, like the shuttered Congress Theater or the abandoned Grace Furniture store.

The group hops off the bus for a little walk on Milwaukee Avenue to explore the colorful street art, and how so many murals ended up here. Amanda, who lived in Logan Square for a decade, will also discuss some of the elements of design that make the MiCA towers so discomforting for many of us.

The Logan Square tour also visits Avondale, once known as “Polish Village,” and now filled with boarded up storefronts. Here we see how forces well beyond that of the confines of our neighborhoods can cause shifts in communities. Avondale, is, of course, following in the gentrification footsteps of Logan Square.

At the Metropolitan Tap Room, the brewhouse tour includes background on the former industrial grounds, the history of the company, and explanation of their brewing process. They do not offer tours to the public yet so this is a special opportunity. And you’ll sample three 4 oz. beers of your choice!

After the tour, you can opt for another beer on your own and have a chance to chat with fellow neighbors and other Chicagoans about the changes around us. This Logan Square and Avondale tour is indeed designed for both residents of these neighborhoods as well as other Chicagoans.

We hope you can come on this one-time-only Logan Square tour! Space is limited, and the tour is likely to sell out. We recommend you book ASAP.